


mirth (bars a thousand harms)

by watery_sun



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Banter, Dina Williams: Queen of Dirty Talk, Ellie Williams: Just Doing Her Best, Enthusiastic Consent, F/F, No Angst, Praise Kink, Rough Sex, Sexual Experimentation, Shameless Smut, Strap-Ons, Switching, is rare, which if you know me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:00:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watery_sun/pseuds/watery_sun
Summary: Variety is the spice of life.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 30
Kudos: 285





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am still on vacation, and hey, this tag could use more smut. So here we go.
> 
> This technically takes place in the same narrative universe as [TCMB](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25553626/chapters/62007166) and [into orbit](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26551612/chapters/64724962), but I decided to stop polluting what was supposed to be my wholesome series of interrelated one-shots with even more shameless smut.
> 
> The title is from Shakespeare, of all things.

“You traded what for _what?!_ ”

The kitchen was equal parts bright and too crowded, although that was mostly thanks to the food - in various states of preparation - that was piled around them. Despite being the only ones in the house at the moment, Ellie still whispered her indignation, as if the collards would catch on to the subject of their conversation and be offended.

Dina just rocked back and forth on her toes, adjusting her apron as she went, an absent smile on her face. When she didn’t reply, Ellie pressed on, her desire for clarification clearly overwhelming her fear of annoyed vegetables.

“So you’re telling me you traded a stunning jar of blackberry jam for a dildo.”

“For a _strap-on_ dildo, babe.”

“I don’t care if it’s a dildo that goes to space, that was our last jar of blackberry jam!”

“Actually, it was our second-to-last,” Dina said sagely, and she reached into the pantry without looking and returned with - yes, there it was, with its tell-tale purple cap, still sealed and everything.

Ellie sputtered and, to Dina’s delight, turned red, reaching for another possible explanation for Dina’s apparently inexplicable behavior. “Is this, like, a weird half-birthday present or something?”

Dina scoffed. “You really think I’m gonna go around asking folks, ‘Hey, where can I get a strap-on for my wife’s thirtieth half-birthday’ -”

“Oh, is this the traditional seventh anniversary gift? Or is it the eighth, you know I always forget -”

Finally, Dina threw her apron aside and raised her hands placatingly. “El, this is just for us! It could be fun to try, if you want.” She leaned hard into her last point. “ _Only_ if you want.”

At this, all the fight - facetious as it was - seemed to go out of Ellie, as she sighed hugely and sauntered further into the kitchen. Dina had turned towards the sink to wash her hands, and she smiled as she heard Ellie come up behind her.

“Baby,” Ellie murmured, voice tinged with playfulness. Her arms rounded Dina’s waist, and she pulled Dina back flush against her. “Are you trying to tell me something?” Dina could practically hear the smile in Ellie’s words, and she leaned backwards further, snuggling into Ellie’s slightly oversized sweater and inhaling the scent of cloves that always seemed to cling to her this time of year.

“Like what?” Dina replied, coy, and she giggled as Ellie pressed her lips to her neck.

“Have I reneged on the most important marital vow to give my wife mind-blowing orgasms for the rest of her natural life?”

Dina turned in Ellie's arms, and Ellie pressed her back against the counter, as Dina gasped at the nibbles and kisses that were placed along the lines of her neck.

“Not - _ah_ \- not at all babe.” Dina whimpered and found herself clinging to Ellie’s broad shoulders, as Ellie continued to press kisses and soft bites along her skin. Dina fought her desire to close her eyes and bare the whole length of her neck - “ _Please_ don’t leave marks, love, I don’t want people to stare at dinner -”

“Guess I’ll have to leave marks where no one can see them,” Ellie whispered, voice low and dangerous, and then her hands were fighting with Dina’s belt buckle and Dina inhaled desperately, hands scrambling against the countertop for purchase -

And then her right hand knocked against the assortment of jars that she had placed next to the sink, and in terrifying slow motion - wide eyes tracking the entire thing - Dina watched as two of the jars smashed into the kitchen floor and shattered, splattering onion chutney in brilliant orange splashes across the tile.

Ellie froze and Dina fisted her hands in her hair, all thoughts of being ravished by her wife now forgotten. “I worked on that for hours!”

“You worked on that for twenty minutes,” Ellie said flatly, though her wide eyes met Dina’s.

“Well it _felt_ like hours,” Dina huffed, and she leaned backwards and groaned into her hands. 

“Sorry, baby,” Ellie murmured apologetically, as she straightened Dina’s belt. “You can whip up another batch like it’s nothing.” She pressed a kiss to the skin between Dina’s eyebrows, and Dina felt herself relax slightly. She met Ellie’s bright green eyes and sighed. 

“Tell you what,” Ellie murmured, keeping Dina bracketed between her arms. “I’ll make more of that chutney, and on Saturday we’ll let the grandparents have JJ for the day, and you and I can figure out what’s really going on with all the hoopla about a fake penis.”

Dina narrowed her eyes. “That’s not much of a trade.”

“There’s just one _tiny_ thing you could do in return? Sooo tiny.” Ellie bit her lower lip, clearly anticipatory. Dina just crossed her arms at this, leveling a hard stare at Ellie. Then Ellie flashed a bright, disarming smile, the one that Dina couldn’t resist - that she _knew_ Dina couldn’t resist, and -

“Shovel the front walkway today please?”

Ellie phrased it as a question, as if that could soften her request. Dina just sighed heavily - “Okay, okay” - and took Ellie’s face in her hands. “You drive a hard bargain,” she said simply. “But I love you anyways.”

“Love you too, baby,” Ellie murmured, and she kissed Dina through her smile.

Despite her pushback, Dina relished the physical labor of bending down and lifting shovelfuls of snow out of the walkway. She sometimes missed how the cold air snuck down her collar when she was out on patrol, how it filled her lungs and invigorated her.

But later, she sat down for dinner, at a table that practically groaned under the sheer amount of food that was piled on it, and was dwarfed by the crowd of people that sat around it - herself and JJ and Ellie, and Robin and Susan and Cat and Alice and Astrid and Callie, Astrid’s wife - that she knew that her wistful nostalgia for patrol was fleeting, and this was where she belonged, with the family that would always be hers.

JJ was more than eager to go spend the following day with his grandparents. He was at the point in his life where he was a veritable fountain of seemingly random information - things that he had learned, and then decided that everyone else should know as well, because he was obviously the first one to inform them of this. Robin and Susan drank it all in in absolute earnest.

“Momma, guess how many times we’ve been to the moon!”

Dina knew she should really know this, considering who she was _married_ to, but for some reason it escaped her that morning.

“Uhh...three?”

“Six!”

“Oof, you’re mom’s never gonna let me hear the end of it now that I got that wrong.” JJ just sniggered in a very Ellie-like way. Dina filed that fact away, hopefully a little more permanently this time, to the point where she repeated it back to herself on her walk back to her house.

Of course, space facts were promptly forgotten as she practically dragged Ellie upstairs, intent on kissing her silly the moment their bedroom door was closed - but (with uncanny quickness, Dina couldn’t help but notice), Ellie wiggled out of her arms and stepped towards the bathroom.

“Let me go brush my teeth first.”

Dina pouted. “Babe…”

“It’s not my fault you put garlic in my scrambled eggs! Do you wanna taste garlic for the rest of the day?”

Dina smiled into her scoff and let her go, tip-toeing across the floor to sit on the bed. She fished through her bedside table’s drawer for the object of all their attention, before Ellie emerged from the bathroom.

Dina could tell that if Ellie could have floated across the room to their bed, she would. Of course she couldn’t, so instead Ellie walked on her tiptoes, clearly trying to minimize the amount of bare skin that contacted the cold hardwood flooring. She hissed as she walked and then leapt, ungracefully, the last meter or so, so that she flopped onto the bed next to Dina, and the whole thing shook back and forth.

“Why do we have hardwood floors in here again?”

“Search me, baby,” Dina replied as she shrugged off her unbuttoned flannel.

“Think Maria will take me seriously if I complain to her?” Ellie asked, smile growing wider as Dina leveled her with a stare and a frown. “Anyways.” Ellie struck an overdone pin-up pose, running one hand flamboyantly through her loose hair. “I am ready to be ravished.”

“No, you’re not,” Dina replied, chuckling and shifting to straddle Ellie’s hips. “You’re not even naked.”

“Well get to work then!” Ellie shot back, and Dina rolled her eyes, fisted her hands in Ellie’s shirt, and leaned down to kiss her.

Banter aside, their kiss was deep and full, as Ellie immediately ran her hands through Dina’s hair, tilting her head so that Dina could deepen their kiss. They were panting when they broke apart, and Dina dragged her teeth down the column of Ellie’s neck, slipping her hands under Ellie’s shirt - 

And Ellie immediately gasped and twisted away, though with a laugh - “Cold fingers, cold cold cold” - and Dina retracted her hands immediately, suppressing her giggles. 

“Sorry, baby, I’m sorry,” she murmured, as Ellie grumbled and removed her shirt herself. She then took Dina’s hands in her own and brought them to her mouth, alternately rubbing Dina’s fingers and exhaling against them. They stayed like that for a few minutes, as Ellie pressed her mouth against Dina’s hands in soft, warm kisses - and this was one of Dina’s favorite things, how easily they could get lost in each other, how every moment that built to something bigger was also just a moment of pleasure in itself.

If Dina had been worried about how well Ellie would take to this, those worries were quelled when she descended Ellie’s body with teasing touches and found her wet and warm and pliant. Dina took her time, thankful that they didn’t have to rush, that she could linger here and make sure everything was perfect. She soon had Ellie gasping and writhing under her, and Dina finally straightened up and brushed her hair out of her face. She met Ellie’s gaze with what she knew was a dark look, by the way Ellie’s voice quivered as she whispered “ _Fuck._ ”

“One more thing,” Dina said, as she leaned over and snagged a small pillow from where it had been thrown against their headboard. “Scooch,” she prodded, indicating that Ellie should lift her hips.

Ellie complied, though not without question. “Are we about to ruin this pillow? Because I think this one was a gift.”

“Angles,” Dina chided, and she leaned forward to hover over Ellie and mouth at her collarbone. Ellie’s hands were in her hair again as she drew Dina closer between her legs. Dina looked down to watch Ellie press the length of the toy against her flesh, so that it smoothed over her clit with Dina's movements. Dina rocked her hips and leaned in to kiss down Ellie’s neck, and Ellie whimpered.

Finally, Dina reached down to line up and tease along Ellie’s entrance. “Tell me if you wanna stop, okay?”

“Okay,” Ellie murmured, and then Dina pressed inside slowly. The first couple inches were always the hardest...and then Ellie rubbed at her clit and took a very decisive breath and the toy sank in a little easier, until Dina’s hips were almost flush with Ellie’s.

Dina couldn’t help it - she exhaled shakily as she watched. “God, you’re so _deep_ ,” she gasped, leaning in close to kiss along Ellie’s neck. Then she withdrew slightly to look down. “You okay?” she murmured, and Ellie let out another long breath.

“Yeah,” she breathed, a look of concentration on her features. “Yeah, just...just different…”

“You wanna stop?”

“No way, baby. We got this far.” There was an easy confidence in Ellie’s voice, one that Dina had slowly come to recognize as distinct from when she went along with something because she thought she should.

“Okay,” Dina smiled. “Okay, let’s do this thing.” 

Ellie looped her arms around Dina’s neck and smiled up at her. “I thought dirty talk was your strong suit,” she said, with far more casualness than Dina expected. Dina just rolled her eyes in response. 

“Jeez, babe, let me work up to it.” 

Ellie’s smile faded slightly as Dina rocked her hips slowly, picking a languid rhythm as they both adjusted to their respective positions. It took a few minutes - and some hurried trial-and-error - for Dina find the right movement with her hips, and she lathed her tongue against Ellie’s neck to give her something to enjoy as she figured it out, reveling in the soft little groans that emerged from Ellie’s mouth.

And then a long, long breath went out of Ellie and it ended in a sighing moan, and something seemed to soften in her as she wrapped her legs around Dina’s waist.

“Good?” Dina murmured, lifting her head from Ellie’s neck to watch her eyes flutter closed.

“Yeah, baby, just like that,” Ellie gasped, and she kept one arm around Dina’s shoulders, the other reaching down to trace circles over her clit. “Just like that.”

Dina hummed against Ellie’s neck, sighing happily as Ellie pulled her closer for a kiss. With her hands free, Dina circled one arm around Ellie’s shoulders, holding her close as she sank into Ellie’s mouth and her body - and now insistent little moans were leaving Ellie’s mouth in the rhythm of Dina’s thrusts.

They kept it up for a few minutes, still figuring things out as they went - sometimes Ellie rocked her hips up at the wrong time, throwing them off their rhythm; sometimes Dina thrust a little too quickly and Ellie had to remind her to slow down - but soon they settled into an easy rhythm, as Ellie traced her fingertips through Dina’s hair and along her back and sighed happily.

Of course, it wasn’t long before Ellie said something that made Dina almost stop moving.

“ _Ah_ ...I know I’m the one getting all the attention here, but - _ah_ \- what do _you_ like?”

Dina scrambled to maintain her rhythm. “What? Like, position-wise?”

“Yeah, I’m trying to get some inspiration here.” Dina just quirked an eyebrow, and then she really did stop moving. Ellie clearly scrambled for an explanation - “Well we figured this one out! We could mix it up!” - and then Dina laughed outright.

“And I thought I was the adventurous one, with the fake penis and all that -”

“Babe, one of us is gonna kill the mood if we don’t pick something soon.”

“Okay, okay, um...put your legs up on my shoulders?”

“Am I even flexible enough to do that?”

“You tell me! You can’t even touch your toes when you get out of bed in the morning -”

So with some grumbling - “I can absolutely touch my toes when I get out of bed” - Ellie pulled her knees up closer to her body, settling them over Dina’s shoulders with only minor awkward maneuvering.

“See?” she replied, looking up at Dina. “I knew I was flexible enough to - _ah_ -” 

Dina leaned forward just a couple of inches, not folding Ellie fully in half but coming close - and then Ellie stopped her, a laugh leaving her lips. “Ow, ow, okay, my legs don’t bend that way - "

Dina retreated immediately, unable to hide her smile. “You are _so_ inflexible, oh my God -”

Ellie wound her legs back around Dina’s waist decisively. “Shut up and keep fucking me.”

Luckily, the mood wasn’t totally lost, as they assumed their original position and continued on. Ellie became soft and pliant under her, whimpering and moaning Dina’s name, and finally she did have a stroke of inspiration to get on top, which was much more manageable for them both.

Ellie straddled Dina and sank down slowly, biting her lip and rocking her hips experimentally. Her brow pinched in concentration, before relaxing as she slid down fully with a sharp intake of breath. Dina’s hands found purchase on Ellie’s hips as they rolled, and Ellie's head fell back, eyes closed, utterly lost in what she was feeling -

“That’s so good, baby,” Dina praised, running her hands up and down Ellie’s ribcage, and Ellie whimpered and rocked in response, gripping Dina’s hands in her own, fully lost.

They eventually ended up flipped over again, with tension ratcheted up and one of Ellie’s hands buried in Dina’s hair, the other working furiously at her own clit - and now she met Dina with desperation, with biting kisses and low moans. She spread her legs wider, and Dina saw her curl up and look down, realizing with a thrill that she was watching Dina fuck her.

Dina’s lips ghosted against Ellie’s ear - “Like what you see?” - and Ellie whimpered. “Like watching me fuck you?”

“Fuck, yes.” Ellie’s voice was low and desperate, and Dina chuckled and sucked on her neck. “Fuck, that’s so good.” And Dina hummed in reply, trying to ignore the creeping cramp in her hips… 

She didn’t have too long to wait, thankfully. Ellie’s free hand soon tightened in her hair, voice cracking. “Dina,” she gasped, and there was a new pitch to her voice, high and tight. “Dina, Dina, please.”

“Come on, baby,” Dina murmured, voice low, as Ellie cried out. “Come for me, be a good girl and come on my cock -”

“ _Fuck_ Dina -” And a strangled sound left Ellie’s throat, as she chanted Dina’s name and her hips twitched and Dina whispered more encouragement -

And Ellie’s nails raked down her back and her whimpers escalated to cries and then convulsions and groans - “Oh _fuck_ , Dina, Dina, that’s so good” - and she shuddered and cried out against Dina’s neck again, and again, and again -

Dina kept up her pace, only slowing when Ellie started to relax beneath her. Finally, Dina eased all the way inside Ellie and met her lips with her own, kissing her deep and soft.

Ellie kissed her back with tired laziness, and as Dina pulled away her eyes were hooded. Ellie breathed hard, clearly trying to gather her wits about her to speak. “That…” And then, whatever the thought had been, it was clearly gone from her brain, and Dina had to suppress her smile as she leaned in and kissed Ellie’s cheek.

“Good?” Dina murmured.

“ _Fuck_ ,” was Ellie’s reply, and Dina chuckled. She pulled out gently, catching her own breath, watching as Ellie absently ran her hands through her hair, and then touched the skin below her collarbone, and between her legs.

“All parts still accounted for?” Dina said, and Ellie’s mouth twitched even as she panted.

“How do you...What part of your brain does all of that dirty talk come from? Christ…”

“A lady never tells,” Dina replied, stretching languidly on the bed, trying to ease some feeling back into her hips.

Ellie groaned into her hands. “Who even are you? I’m telling my therapist about this.” 

“Just make sure you quote me, verbatim,” Dina replied, mouth curling into a wicked smile.

“Oh she’ll _love_ that,” Ellie said, exasperated. “She’ll go all Freud on me and talk about how the absence of a significant mother figure in my life is manifesting in my sexual preferences -”

“Ew, ew, ew, back up, nope. Nope.” Dina waved her hands rapidly in front of her face as if that could erase that particular memory of Ellie speaking.

“Yeah, she actually hates Freud,” Ellie replied absently.

“Good thing, too,” Dina chuckled. She turned onto her side and propped her head up with a hand, leveling Ellie with a significant gaze. “On that note...my turn?”

* * *

To say that Ellie’s brain felt like sludge was to make what was, in Ellie’s opinion, the understatement of the year. Sex with Dina was good - it had _always_ been good, even when they were figuring each other out - but now Ellie was _particularly_ thankful for Dina’s adventurous streak. She knew she’d be sore tomorrow, but hey, it was worth it.

“On that note...my turn?” Dina looked at her with wide, expectant eyes.

“Oh yeah,” Ellie murmured in reply. “I _think_ I owe you something.” She chuckled, and she watched Dina flush - and something like pride went through her, that it was now _her_ turn to make Dina come undone.

Ellie felt confident that she could ignore her temporarily dysfunctional brain to do that.

And somehow Ellie felt more comfortable in what she was going to do, now that it had been done to her. The thought made her kiss Dina deeply, made her run her hands and tongue and teeth over her body with ease. The strap-on felt somewhat alien as she adjusted it against her body, but hey, if it was going to help her make Dina feel how she had just felt, then she was all for it. 

Dina seemed just as anticipatory, rocking against Ellie’s touch, running her hands through Ellie’s hair and along her skin - she was so _needy_ , and it thrilled Ellie, to see how transformed she was when Ellie was more dominant. 

She brought Dina up to a high on her fingers, whispering sweet, soft things in Dina’s ear. But when she felt that Dina was about to come - when she heard that sharp intake of breath and felt that moment where, inexplicably, Dina’s hands on her shoulders went slack instead of gripping, because Dina was so focused on what was between her legs - Ellie stopped.

And Dina _groaned_ in loss and annoyance as Ellie slipped out of her. “Are you kidding me?” she murmured, almost in shock.

“Patience,” Ellie said, a wicked smile curving around her words, and she made to position herself between Dina’s legs -

But Dina pushed her back gently - “Wait, baby, hold on” - and she flipped around so she was on her hands and knees, long hair spread out over her back - and yeah Ellie’s brain had _definitely_ stopped working at that point -

“Come on, babe,” Dina murmured, swaying back and forth absently, and somehow her words got through the mush that was Ellie’s brain, and she straightened up behind Dina.

“Yeah, yes, okay. I can do this.” Ellie cringed internally at herself and tried to distract herself from her own incompetence by running her hands up and down Dina’s body. So _beautiful_ -

Ellie felt like someone else was controlling her body when she ran her palm from the base of Dina’s spine up to her shoulders, pressing down gently - “Bend over, baby” - and Dina whimpered and gasped and went pliant below her, shoulders now lower than her hips.

“You feel ready?” Ellie said, rubbing her hands against Dina’s low back - and when Dina nodded, Ellie gripped the toy in one hand, teasing the head against Dina’s entrance.

When Dina murmured a strangled “Yes, yes, keep going”, Ellie eased forward gently, giving Dina ample time to adjust. Her thrusts were shallow and she reached around to circle Dina’s clit, rocking her hips as she felt Dina open up a little more. 

Dina’s head hung between her arms, and Ellie could see her breathing rapidly. Ellie ran her hands soothingly up over her back, brushing Dina’s hair to the side and checking in as she went -

“Good, baby?”

“Yes, so good, so good -”

Ellie didn’t know if it took a minute or an hour to become fully sheathed inside Dina - only that she relished every second of it, as Dina writhed and panted under her. Dina whimpered as Ellie leaned in and pressed a soft, chaste kiss to her right shoulder, and then her left - and then Ellie trailed kisses all across her upper back and Dina _whined_ in what Ellie recognized was impatience…

“Fuck me,” Dina whimpered. “Please, please…”

“I know,” Ellie murmured, nuzzling the base of her neck once more before straightening up, gripping Dina’s hips. She pulled out experimentally, almost feeling her brain short circuit ( _again_ , god dammit) at the sight of the toy leaving Dina’s body and then entering her again.

It was a lot of work, to find and maintain a tempo that worked for them both - but it was more than enough for Ellie to hear Dina’s sounds and watch her writhe and arch and gasp.

“You’re beautiful,” Ellie murmured, running her hands through Dina’s long hair, pushing it over one shoulder to bare her upper back, watching her torso expand and contract and expand again with her deep breaths and her long, sweet moans…

“Ellie, baby,” Dina gasped. “El, you can be rough, baby, please…”

“Yeah?” Ellie murmured. “Rough” was not a common theme in Ellie’s sexual repertoire, but this experience was now about Dina, so she was certainly willing to stretch her own boundaries where she was comfortable. She bent forward so that her chest was almost flush with Dina’s back. “Tell me if you want to stop,” she murmured in Dina’s ear, and Dina nodded her assent, and then Ellie took a deep breath, tangled one hand in Dina’s hair and pushed down -

With Dina pinned down to the mattress underneath her, Ellie picked up the pace, alternating quick, shallow thrusts with slower, deeper ones, feeling a little more confident and relaxed as Dina’s moans and gasps increased in pitch and volume. At some point, Ellie leaned back up to give her right arm a break, but continued the same pattern, murmuring encouragement as she went along - “Spread your legs, baby,” she’d say, and Dina would whimper and somehow crouch even lower underneath her...

“Fuck, I love you,” Ellie gasped, and Dina was whimpering with each thrust now, head tipped back. Ellie could see that her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly agape, her face slack in pleasure -

“I love you,” Dina whimpered, voice pitching. “Harder, baby, please -” 

Her begging lit something in Ellie, and she surged forward and sank her teeth into Dina’s shoulder, her neck, and reached around with her right arm to just place her hand at Dina’s throat - “Okay?”, and Dina nodded vigorously and _whined_ -

Ellie didn’t apply any pressure, just held her there, in that vulnerable place, while her hips snapped against Dina’s, driving gasps and cries out of Dina’s mouth - and then Dina’s left hand found where Ellie’s was pressed against the mattress, and she tangled their fingers together...

“Hold me down again, baby, please -” Dina’s voice pitched up as she spoke.

“Yeah?” Ellie gasped, as she pressed Dina’s upper body down again, with her right hand splayed out between her shoulder blades. “You like to be held down and fucked?”

And Dina gasped - “Yes yes yes” -

“You like to be filled?”

“ _Fuck_ yes -”

Dina’s voice stretched out into a long, quivering, amorphous sound that rose and fell with the rhythm of Ellie’s thrusts. Her upper body was practically flat against the mattress now, and Ellie could see that her right arm was no longer supporting her, instead shoved down between her legs - 

“Come for me, baby, play with your clit and come for me -”

And Dina’s whimpers pitched into cries that all ended in Ellie’s name, and Ellie wished she could feel Dina around her, feel her convulsing and twitching as she cried out - but this would have to do, gripping her hips and fucking her through it, and it was still something _glorious_ , as Dina writhed under her -

Later, Ellie couldn't remember leaning forward to rest against Dina’s back, only that she seemed to come back to some sort of awareness with Dina curled under her, still breathing hard. Ellie brushed her sweat-damp hair aside and kissed her temple. 

“You okay?”

Dina murmured something incomprehensible, but then nodded, squeezing Ellie’s hand that was still in her grip. Ellie untangled herself from Dina gently, pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder, and slowly pulled out of her. She rolled over next to Dina, wiggling the toy off of her hips, and took what felt like the first deep breath she’d taken in hours.

She reached for Dina - “Hey, baby, c'mere” - and Dina snuggled closer, though her eyes were still closed and she had the same soft, clumsy movements as if she were inebriated. Ellie brushed Dina’s bangs out of her face. “You alive in there, love?” she murmured, mouth twitching into a smile.

Dina responded with an annoyed whine, as she twisted in Ellie’s arms until she was on her side, slowly opening her eyes. “I think you broke me,” she murmured, sounding imprudent. 

“You asked for it,” Ellie replied, inwardly shocked at her own bravado.

“ _Fuck_ , that was hot,” Dina said absently, and she stretched her arms above her head and groaned, then rolled her neck around to pop it in a few places.

Ellie just hid her face in her hands - “I can’t believe those words came out of my mouth” - and Dina _laughed_. 

“Take the compliment, baby. You did a good job.” But Dina kept chuckling.

Ellie pressed the heels of her hands against her closed eyes. “Ugh, stop laughing. I want a divorce.”

“Look, it felt good. I think that’s all that matters.”

Ellie hummed, staring up at the ceiling and considering this, as Dina snuggled closer into the curve of her body.

“So where the fuck are we gonna hide this thing?”

Dina sighed. “We need a sex den, Eugene-style.”

“I’ll mention that to Maria too, next time I see her,” Ellie said absently, ignoring Dina’s scoff as she started trying to pull back their blankets. They rearranged themselves slowly, and then Ellie wrapped herself around Dina, pulling the comforter closer and absently stroking her back. “Just as long as I get the sex den in the divorce.”

Dina hummed, snuggling into the cocoon that was their bed and Ellie’s body, one finger tracing Ellie’s tattoo. “Would you still have preferred the jam?”

Ellie took a deep breath and gave Dina a long, contemplative look. She waffled - “I _mean_ …” - which quickly turned to indignation as Dina openly scoffed at her. “Hey!” Ellie straightened a lock of hair behind Dina’s ear, even as she continued to retaliate. “It was blackberry, Dina, _blackberry!_ That is the _best_ jam!” 

“We can always get more when those traders come back, babe -”

“What if they never come back? What if all blackberries go extinct tomorrow? Just -” And she mimed an explosion with her hands. “ _Boom_. No more blackberry jam, no more blackberry pie. What will our son say?”

“As impossible as it sounds, I _think_ he will find a way.”

Ellie just grumbled.

“Hey, I get by without banana bread,” Dina added, and Ellie decided not to tell her that the national shortage - nay, absolutely obliteration - of bananas got to her almost as much as the prospect of no more blackberry jam.

“You’ve never even tasted banana bread.”

“You don’t know that,” Dina replied, eyebrows raised suggestively.

Ellie frowned. “Are you having an illicit affair with a banana bread-maker?”

“Yes. You’ve caught me.”

At that, Ellie feigned a swoon - “My life is a lie!” - and Dina snorted into her hand.

“Hey, at least you didn’t make a banana pun,” Dina replied, and then her face fell at what she’d just done.

“Oh.” Ellie caught on, smirking. “Oh, I was gonna - but it just wasn’t...a- _peel_ -ing…”

Dina just buried her face in her hands. “I married a monster.” But misgivings aside, she let Ellie pull her close and kiss her.

“You love it,” Ellie murmured as she pulled away.

“Yes,” Dina sighed, and Ellie chuckled at the resigned smile that bloomed on her face. “Yes, I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a food scientist, but I imagine that bananas would have a pretty difficult time in the apocalypse, given the whole [lack of genetic diversity thing](https://www.wired.com/2017/03/humans-made-banana-perfect-soon-itll-gone/).
> 
> Find me on tumblr @watery-sun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did somebody order more sweet soft strap-on smut? No? Too bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops. Here we are. Again.
> 
> Chapter tags are basically the same for the previous chapter, minus rough sex.

Sunset painted the interior of their bedroom in soft yellows and brightening oranges, and Dina enjoyed her moment of reprieve as she watched the light fit around their curtains and window sills and paint long gradients of color along the floor and walls. She let the sound of sleepy birdsong and a gentle breeze wash over her, trying to let go of all the snagging, irritated moments of her day. 

Ellie was still flipping through her book when she walked over the threshold and into the bedroom, feet moving of their own accord and eyes fixedly set on whatever page held her gaze now.

“Don’t trip, love.” Dina winced at the thought of the mug that had been shattered last week, under startlingly similar circumstances.

“Pfft, me?” Ellie flipped a page with a flourish and did a little spin on one socked foot. “Never.” Dina’s exasperation must have shown clear on her face then, because Ellie immediately tucked her book under one arm and leaned down to plant a kiss over the thin line of Dina’s mouth.

Dina couldn’t resist - she smiled against Ellie’s lips and responded, pecking Ellie’s mouth until she smiled too, giggling as she retreated. Dina clasped her hands in front of herself and stretched, wincing slightly. “How far did you get this time?”

“He conked out right around the Fire Swamp. And that was my favorite part too…” Ellie tossed her book onto her bedside table. The mattress dipped with her weight, and Dina looked over her shoulder to watch Ellie scoot across their bed and push herself back to a standing position on the other side, instead of simply walking around it.

“Don’t worry, baby,” Dina said, repressing the urge to roll her eyes as an easy smile came to her. “I’m sure he’ll still grow up to be as much of a nerd as his mother.” 

At this, Ellie turned on her heel, fixing Dina with a playful look. “Oh, you’re talking about _me?_ ” she shot back, voice humorous and tinged with danger - and then she lunged forward and tickled Dina’s ribs, even as Dina gasped and curled up and made to roll away.

Dina shooed her after just a few moments, but not before Ellie planted another kiss or two against Dina’s neck before she relented.

Ellie fixed her with a playful look even as she backed off; Dina returned it easily with a half-smile before she started to fiddle at the buttons of her overshirt. The sounds of bedtime routine washed over her as Dina wiggled out of her jeans next, sighing as she rolled her ankles and wrists and listened to them crack.

Dina leaned back on her hands and groaned theatrically. “Wanna know how many roofs I had to climb on today?”

Ellie leaned into the bathroom doorway, one hand wiping foamed toothpaste from the side of her mouth. “More than one?”

Dina scoffed. “You’re lucky I like you. _Five_. Goddamn downed powerlines. If Mara doesn’t get her shit together to come out with me next time…” She trailed off, grumbling, as Ellie sauntered towards her.

Ellie leaned over so she was eye-level with Dina, bracketing Dina’s thighs with her hands on the mattress. “I don’t think your apprentices are _quite_ as gung-ho as you are, babe.” She kissed the tip of Dina’s nose for good measure.

Dina just rolled her eyes and swatted at her, affection be damned. Ellie danced away easily, chuckling, and retreated back to the bathroom. 

“Almost got my head kicked in today,” Ellie said casually, over the sound of running water. Dina frowned, watching her press a towel to her face.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she queried as Ellie exited the bathroom and made to flop down on the mattress. Dina caught her as she was getting settled, straddling and pinning her with her weight and her stern gaze.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Ellie said apologetically, hands held in front of her in mock self-defense.

Dina softened as a sigh left her mouth. She brushed Ellie’s hair out of her face, and traced her profile with a fingertip. “Your son’s gonna get the wrong idea into his head one of these days,” she murmured, before rolling away.

“What, that his mom is a total badass?” Ellie shot back, sitting up to watch her.

Dina just _hmph_ ’d and drew a deep breath, shifting on the mattress, wincing as her back cracked. Ellie touched her jaw, drawing her eyes, all light humor replaced by soft concern.

“Sore?”

“No more than usual,” Dina said flatly, but she fixed Ellie with a pleading gaze all the same. It had the desired effect - Ellie moved to sit cross-legged up at the head of the bed, motioning for Dina to come sit with her.

“You could just _ask_ ,” Ellie murmured as she brushed Dina’s loose hair over one shoulder, plucking at her tank top. Dina shucked it off and tossed it aside, now only in her underwear and undershirt, throwing a smile over her shoulder as she did so.

“I like to make you work for it,” she teased, though she giggled at Ellie’s disbelieving scoff.

“Like this is so hard,” Ellie murmured, pressing her lips against the base of Dina’s neck. She rubbed firm circles between Dina’s shoulder blades with her thumbs, and Dina was torn between relaxing into it and writhing under the contact.

Dina hummed as Ellie worked on her, gasping or wincing slightly as she found and worked over knots in her upper back. She swayed with Ellie’s movements, letting her head tip back and her eyes flutter closed. By the time she opened them again, the orange hues that had painted their bedroom floor and far wall had deepened to dark reds. 

Ellie pressed the whole flat of her palm against her right shoulder. “This still bothering you?” she murmured, jolting Dina out of her soft unfocus. Dina rolled that shoulder gingerly, feeling the muscles and ligaments shift and stretch.

“Not since it rained last week,” Dina replied, smiling when Ellie removed her hand and pressed a kiss to the scar anyways. “Touchy,” she added over her shoulder, and Ellie met her gaze with a sly grin.

“You love it,” Ellie murmured in reply, and she tugged Dina back into her lap, so that her front was flush with Dina’s back. Dina settled there, content to thread her fingers through Ellie’s and listen to the rhythm of her breathing.

Ellie was fiddling with Dina’s wedding band when Dina sighed hugely, letting a long breath leave her lungs with force. “Do you think I could get away with murdering Dustin?”

Ellie hummed against her neck, pretending to be serious. “Might take a little work.” Dina _hmph_ ’d again and pressed back into her further, falling silent. She cradled Ellie’s left hand in both of hers, tracing the blue channels of her veins with her thumbs.

“Something on your mind?” Ellie’s voice was soft in her ear.

Dina pressed her mouth against Ellie’s skin. “I missed you today.”

“I missed you too.” Ellie’s fingertips found her jaw again and Dina turned easily, meeting Ellie’s tender gaze and accepting her deliberate, chaste kiss. Dina returned it with a soft sigh, smiling as Ellie leaned in to kiss her again. 

Dina twisted her upper body slightly to meet her, until she was kneeling instead of sitting between Ellie’s legs. She let Ellie nudge her back until she was lying prone, head towards the foot of the bed, giggling as Ellie crawled up over her, dropping kisses on her skin here and there.

Finally, Ellie pressed a kiss between her breasts and pillowed her chin on her hands, watching her. “Hey.”

Dina smiled, one hand tracing the shell of Ellie’s ear. “Hi, baby.”

“You tired?”

“Nope,” Dina murmured, suddenly sly. “Why?”

Ellie pressed another kiss to her skin, and another, humming absently as she worked her way up Dina’s body, until their noses were inches apart.

“Wanna fuck?”

Dina’s grin was wicked. She raised her eyebrows, faux-causal - “That sounds nice” - and then giggled when Ellie dropped a kiss onto her lips.

Dina caught her before she could pull away, inclining her head to deepen the kiss. Ellie covered her body fully now, and Dina crooned at the feel of her warm weight, at how her arms circled her and held her close.

Ellie pressed a slow line of kisses down Dina’s neck, sucking and biting and licking, before sitting up to remove her own shirt. Dina sat up to join her, pushing her back against the pillows - but then she dissolved into laughter as Ellie manhandled her so that Dina sat between her legs again. Ellie nibbled up the lines of her neck and Dina gave in, tipping her head back to rest in the crook of Ellie’s neck.

Ellie’s voice was soft and husky when she spoke, and Dina shivered. “Tell me what you need, baby.” One of Ellie’s arms firmed around her waist, and the other traced the inside of one thigh. Dina squirmed at the contact, trying to urge Ellie where she needed her.

Ellie’s breath was hot against her neck, insistent. “Do you need my fingers?”

Dina whined, hips now rocking as Ellie’s hand continued its lazy circles on her thigh. Her voice caught when she spoke - “More…” - and Ellie hummed and smiled against her neck.

“Do you need my cock?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Dina gasped, and at the same time Ellie pressed the flat of her palm between Dina’s legs. Dina shook minutely and clung to her, rocking to generate any smidge of friction possible, even as Ellie’s hand remained stubbornly stationary between her legs.

Ellie let one long finger drag across Dina’s clit, and Dina whimpered and gasped at the increased pressure, still rocking desperately. Ellie nibbled on her earlobe and sighed in her ear - “So _needy_ ” - and Dina groaned in impatience, twisting free of Ellie’s restraining arm and pulling her down for a deep, biting kiss.

Ellie played along with Dina’s aggression for a few moments, pinning her down and running her teeth along her neck and all but ripping her undershirt off to suck bruises against the curve of her breasts - but then she slowed decisively, lathing her tongue along Dina’s skin and kissing her sweet and tender and promising. 

“Be good,” Ellie murmured, a hint of chiding and a smile in her tone, as Dina whimpered and watched her descend her body, lower and lower.

Ellie threw her underwear aside and kissed Dina for a moment - making her arch and gasp and cry out, “Ellie, _Ellie_ ” - before setting to work on her with her fingers, painting the insides of her thighs with bruises. 

Dina found herself swept up in Ellie’s ministrations, already deep into that fuzzy, needy place where Ellie’s body was her whole world. She whimpered and gasped and rocked desperately against Ellie’s mouth, making Ellie chuckle and pin her down and go even slower.

“I’m so empty, baby,” Dina gasped out, as Ellie kissed her clit and teased along her entrance. Desperation crested in her voice - “Please, _please_ ” - and then Ellie shushed her and slipped inside, slow and easy.

“So wet for me,” Ellie murmured, keeping her eyes locked on Dina’s. “You’re so soft, baby.”

“Yes,” Dina gasped, breath hitching at the pressure and stretch. “Yes, _yes_ …” Ellie returned her gasps with another soft chuckle and leaned in to work over Dina’s clit with her tongue, thrusting languidly despite Dina’s rocking desperation.

Dina gripped their sheets in her twitching hands, short cries issuing from her mouth as Ellie crooked her fingers inside her and hummed against her clit. “I need it, Ellie, I need it _so much_ -”

“I know, baby,” Ellie murmured in an easy, casual reply. “I’ll take care of you. Can you come first?” She punctuated her soft words with a twist of her fingers, and Dina arched and cried out. 

“That’s it, baby.” Ellie’s voice was still soft even as Dina’s rose in a crescendo. “Come first, come on my fingers…” And Dina gasped and arched, pressing the crown of her head into the mattress. 

“Just like that, baby, come on...”

Dina found Ellie’s hair and then her upper back, desperate to touch any part of her as she was led along. “Just let go. Let go for me…” Finally, Dina inhaled and lurched and came, just as Ellie took her clit into her mouth - and Dina twitched and writhed and rocked and moaned, low and loud in her throat.

“So good,” Ellie crooned, still pumping slowly with her fingers. She withdrew slowly, kissing the wet flesh under her mouth once more, sucking on her fingers. 

“Come here,” Dina gasped, finding her voice even as she caught her breath, and pulling Ellie up to her. She carded Ellie’s hair back and lurched for her, and their kiss was slow and soft and rolling, both of them savoring their brief moment of rest.

Ellie rolled away for a moment, and Dina whimpered at the loss of contact. “Hold on, baby,” Ellie murmured sweetly, as she dug through one of their drawers. “Just getting ready.”

Dina kissed her deeply when she returned, ignoring the surprised chuckle that issued from Ellie’s mouth as she tugged her down. After a beat, Ellie withdrew to brush Dina’s hair out of her face, and to regard her with a soft look. “How do you want me?” 

Dina spoke around her gasp, and her tone was equal parts decisive and desperate. “Sit up. I wanna be close to you.”

Dina straddled Ellie and rocked in her lap, whimpering at the pressure of the fake cock against her clit, biting her lip as she smeared her arousal along the toy. She fiddled with angles for a moment and then sat down slowly, letting out a couple of long, deep breaths.

Ellie absently nuzzled and kissed between her breasts as Dina lowered herself, watching Dina’s face as she slipped down, as her eyes fluttered closed. Ellie murmured to her, soft and soothing - “I got you, baby, I got you.”

“Missed you so much,” Dina whimpered, gasping, as she worked her body down. “Missed you inside me, all the way, _God_ -”

“I know, I know.”

Finally, Dina sighed happily, resting in the crook of Ellie’s neck while her body clenched and fluttered. Ellie ran her hands up and down her back, gentle and soothing like the kisses she placed along Dina’s shoulders.

Ellie took the opportunity to peck her lips and rub their noses together, drawing Dina’s gaze. “Hey, babe.”

Dina’s mouth quirked. “Hi.”

“You okay?” She pressed her lips against Dina’s forehead, along her eyebrow. Dina just hummed in reply. 

“I’ve been in worse places,” she murmured, a smile curling along her mouth. Ellie matched it and ran her hands along Dina’s back.

Dina rocked in Ellie’s lap, as Ellie wound her arms around her. They were easy and unhurried, meeting each other with smiles and slow, lingering kisses. Ellie sucked marks against Dina’s neck and breasts, lathed over them with her tongue, and whispered sweet things against her skin; Dina carded her fingers through Ellie’s hair and kissed her forehead, her scarred eyebrow, the flushed bridge of her nose. All the while, Ellie gripped and kneaded Dina’s hips in her hands, murmuring about how warm and soft she was, how endlessly beautiful.

After some time, Dina slowed her rocking, reaching down to slip the toy out of her. At Ellie’s questioning gaze, she leaned back onto the bed and tugged at Ellie’s shoulders. “Take me on my back, baby, please…” 

Dina lay back, legs spread, hair mussed, breathing hard. Ellie crawled towards her, meeting her with a kiss - first between her breasts and then against her mouth. They reached down together to help Ellie slip back inside. Dina whimpered, gripping Ellie’s back and then softening as she was filled again.

“Okay?”

“Yes, yes…” Dina’s words washed out of her mouth on a long sigh, as she looped both arms loosely around Ellie’s neck.

“Good.” They took a moment to just kiss languidly, as Ellie gently rolled her hips. Dina tipped her head to the side, baring her neck for Ellie’s mouth and sighing sweetly at the contact.

They continued with their languid pace, as Ellie thrust easily into Dina, and Dina wrapped her legs around Ellie’s waist and framed Ellie’s face in her hands so their eyes met.

Ellie kissed her cheek and rested her forehead against Dina’s as she moved. “Hi, baby,” Ellie murmured around her own gasps of effort, smiling down at her. 

“Hi,” Dina managed to gasp out, before another moan bubbled up in her throat, as she rocked her hips to meet Ellie’s thrusts.

“I need you deeper, El,” Dina whispered, and Ellie groaned - “ _Fuck_ , yeah, baby?” - before straightening up. She hooked one of Dina’s legs over her shoulder and rolled her hips slowly - and Dina gasped and reached for her -

“Too much?”

“No, no, keep going -”

“You want it slow?”

“ _Yes_ , yes…” Dina cried out at the delicious friction inside of her, clinging to Ellie’s back desperately. “Feels so good, fuck, _fuck_ -”

“I know, baby. You don’t have to do anything. Let me make you feel good...”

Ellie set a steady, easy rhythm and found Dina’s mouth with hers, breathing in her gasps and responding with soft kisses. Dina’s hands traveled up and down Ellie’s back absently, feeling her muscles flex under her touch, finding scars old and new. Occasionally she pulled Ellie close, kissing her sweetly, whimpering into her mouth.

At some point a low groan bubbled up from Dina’s throat, as she fixed her eyes between her legs and watched Ellie slide into and out of her, holding her open, consistent and unwavering even as Dina shook and shuddered. 

Ellie’s voice, and the kiss she placed on Dina’s forehead, drifted over her - “So good for me, baby, so perfect” - and Dina could only wrap her arms around Ellie’s neck and rock with her.

Occasionally Ellie canted her hips and slipped all the way inside, focusing her attention on Dina’s neck and mouth, as Dina whined and spasmed around her. “We’ve got so much time, baby,” Ellie soothed. “All the time in the world for you…” She ran her hands along Dina’s ribcage, thumbed her nipples, leaned down to suck another bruise under her collarbone.

By now Dina was whimpering on each thrust, clinging to Ellie desperately and sucking down air. “God, El. So, so good…So full...”

“Yeah?” she whispered against her neck. “You’re so good to me, baby. Gonna make you feel so good, gonna make you come…”

Ellie eased into a slightly quicker pace, so that high gasps and soft cries now left Dina’s mouth. Dina gripped Ellie’s shoulders all the harder, letting her body sink into the mattress, letting her head tip back and her voice rise over Ellie’s steady, soothing tones -

“Ellie, _Ellie_ , fuck -”

“I know, I know -”

“ _God_ , baby, just like that -”

Ellie leaned onto one elbow and reached down between their bodies, finding Dina’s clit and brushing over it lightly. Another cry - lower, louder this time - was wrenched from Dina’s mouth, as her hands shook and her breathing came faster. “That’s it, baby,” Ellie whispered, smiling down at her softly. “You’re so beautiful.”

Ellie’s breath ghosted over her neck. “I love you so much,” she murmured, voice sweet and soft. “I love our house and our family and our bed” - and Dina gasped and cried out, desperately pulling Ellie closer.

They continued like that, with Ellie coaxing whimpers and cries and moans out of Dina’s mouth - until, finally, Dina was shaking, coiled like a spring, begging -

“ _Please_ , Ellie, please please please -”

“Yes, baby,” Ellie breathed against Dina’s ear. “I want you to come.” Her voice was soft, and Dina’s breath hitched. Everything was so _steady_ \- how Ellie moved inside her, and traced her clit, and held her, hovering over her so that her body was all Dina knew - all for her, all to take her there...

Dina was now aware of very few things - of her body, shaking and twitching; of pressure growing in her belly and cries issuing brokenly from her mouth; and of Ellie’s voice, low and soft and steady against her skin - “That’s so good. You’re almost there, yeah?”

And Dina nodded frantically, gasping on each inhale - “Come for me, Dina” - and Ellie’s voice stayed smooth even as Dina gave in and cried out brokenly - “There you go, let go baby.” Ellie covered Dina’s mouth with her own for a moment, before pulling back to look down at her again, all soft sweetness. “Come on, baby, just like that…”

And Dina was only vaguely aware of Ellie soothing her as her body seized and clamped down, as she arched off of the bed - she inhaled sharply and then great, shuddering exhales and cries left her mouth, all ending in Ellie’s name, and Ellie’s soft voice somehow drifted to her anyways - 

“There’s my girl. _God_ you’re beautiful when you come, just like that. Just like that, baby, yes...”

Dina shuddered and gasped and shook as Ellie helped her ride it out, slowing and deepening her thrusts until she had wrung every shuddering aftershock out of Dina’s body. Ellie gently slipped all the way inside, so that their hips were almost flush together; Dina breathed shakily, still twitching, gasping against Ellie’s neck and accepting her soft, light kisses.

Dina breathed shakily - “Oh my God, Ellie, Ellie” - and gasped and cried against Ellie’s mouth. “That felt _so_ good, _fuck…_ ” Both of Ellie’s arms rounded her body, pressing her closer, as Ellie still slowly rolled her hips, so that Dina continued to rock with her.

“I love this, baby,” Ellie breathed against her mouth. “I love taking care of you.” She pressed a soft, meandering line of kisses down Dina’s neck, against the hollow of her throat, below her collarbone. Absently, Dina rubbed Ellie’s back as her breathing slowed, sighing at the attention. Ellie’s lips ghosted back over hers and whispered into her mouth - “I love you” - and Dina drank it in and sighed and whispered it back.

Dina felt like she could fall asleep immediately - just the rhythm of Ellie’s pulse under her mouth keeping her tethered to the here and now - and Ellie gently slipped out of her, rolling to one side and taking her in her arms.

Dina gasped for breath and rested her forehead against Ellie’s chest. Her mind and her body buzzed, and she felt equal parts energized and weak. She was only softly aware of Ellie’s mouth against her forehead, her cheek; of Ellie cradling her closer, hooking a leg over her hip. At some point, the strap-on had disappeared elsewhere, and Dina pressed herself flush against Ellie’s front.

She hummed against Ellie’s neck, drawing figures absently on her back. “Well that was the best part of my day,” she murmured, and Ellie grinned against the crown of her head and kissed her softly.

“Don’t let Dustin hear you say that,” Ellie replied, and Dina just chuckled and sighed. She flexed her feet and rolled her shoulders and settled against Ellie’s body. Ellie’s mouth never quite left her, just continued to press sweet, soft kisses against her hair.

Dina felt content to drift along until whatever came next bumped into her - sleep or more sex or what have you - and the feeling of Ellie’s pulse under her mouth lit something in her, even as she muddled through her afterglow...

“I can think of one thing that would make it better, though,” Dina murmured against Ellie’s neck, voice scratchy. 

Ellie paused. “Oh?”

“Mhmm,” Dina hummed, shifting to throw a leg over Ellie’s body and straddle her. Ellie’s hands went to her waist, thumbs drawing circles on her hip bones. “You forgot what else I missed,” Dina breathed, voice low, as she rolled her hips. “I should reward you for being _so_ good...”

Ellie sighed. “ _Fuck_ , Dina…”

“Mhmm.” Dina just hummed. “Making me come turns you on so much, doesn’t it, baby?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Ellie gasped, her voice a little higher now.

“Makes you so wet for me, hmm?”

“ _Dina_ …”

Dina let the long curtain of her dark hair fall forward as she leaned over Ellie. “Do you want me to fuck you?”

“ _God_ yes, please baby -”

Dina smiled, wicked, and crawled backwards, tugging Ellie with her - “Come down here, baby.” She stopped when her knees hit the floor, letting her hands rub along Ellie’s thighs.

Ellie sat up, hunched over to watch Dina now, and Dina took the chance to lean up and press a soft kiss over her mouth. Ellie yielded under her, letting Dina push her so that she lay back on her elbows, legs hanging over the edge of the bed, watching as Dina settled between them.

Dina pressed a kiss right above Ellie’s pubic bone, meeting her eyes and watching her brows knit together. She dragged her teeth lightly over Ellie’s hip, watching Ellie suck her bottom lip between her teeth and hiss -

And Ellie’s broken gasp was all she could hear as she dragged her tongue between her folds, so slow, as she pinned Ellie with her eyes. It was easy, now, to ignore the heaviness of her own afterglow, with Ellie’s taste in her mouth.

Dina brought her up to a shaking high, until Ellie was rocking and begging and grasping for her; and then Dina straightened up and pushed her hair out of her face and ran her hands up and down Ellie’s quivering body.

“What do you want?” Dina felt drunk on her body’s high, loose and emboldened as Ellie whimpered beneath her. “I need you to say it.”

And Ellie bit her lip and tipped her head back and a strangled, frustrated sound bubbled up from her mouth. 

“Come on, baby,” Dina whispered, low and dangerous, and she pressed her thumb against the hood of Ellie’s clit - too stationary to do anything but make Ellie arch and whine and relent.

“Fuck me, _please_ Dina. I’ll be so, so good, I promise…”

“Will you?” Dina teased, rolling her thumb slowly and watching Ellie twitch and keen. “Will you come for me?”

“ _Yes_ yes yes…”

“Do you want my cock?” At Ellie’s desperate, whispered assent, Dina scrambled to find the strap-on where Ellie had left it, internally cursing her own lack of forethought. But Ellie was just as pliant and warm beneath her when she was ready, gasping shakily as Dina teased her between her legs.

“Are you ready for me?”

“ _Yes_ , Dina, please, please -”

And Dina slipped inside her slowly and Ellie’s grip on her wrists was so strong, so hard, that Dina had to press kisses along her shoulder and soothe her - “I’m here, baby, I’m here.” And then Dina was rocking inside her, as Ellie smoothed her hands up and down Dina’s back, gasping softly. 

Dina rolled her hips and watched Ellie slowly fall apart - in the crease between her eyebrows and the way she bared her teeth, how the muscles in her neck flexed and how pitching groans issued from her mouth. She didn’t have to ask - she already knew - but she voiced the question anyways, sweetly: “Does that feel good?”

“God, Dina, _yes_. Don’t stop -”

“I won’t, baby, I promise.”

It wasn’t long before Ellie reached for her with a new freneticism and Dina lunged forward, climbing fully onto the bed for leverage. “My gorgeous girl,” Dina murmured, resting her forehead against Ellie’s, snapping her hips as Ellie cried out beneath her. “That’s it, that’s it…”

“Dina, Dina, _Dina_ -”

Ellie clawed at her back, arching and moaning and gasping, as Dina whispered encouraging things in her ear and against her neck: how good and sweet and soft she was, how strong and lovely and kind -

Ellie could only babble in return, and it all burst forth like a floodgate opening: how much she loved Dina, how much she needed her, needed Dina inside her, needed Dina to fuck her, to tell her she was good -

“You are, baby,” Dina gasped, brushing Ellie’s bangs out of her face. “My good girl, mine, mine -”

“Yes yes yes…” Ellie still clung to Dina with one hand, working furiously at her clit with the other, shuddering and whimpering, and Dina could tell that she wouldn't last much longer -

“Come for me,” Dina whispered, as Ellie’s voice cracked and her hands shook and Dina held her down and watched her fall apart. “You’re such a good girl, now let go and come for me -”

And Ellie came with a broken, gasping cry, twitching and convulsing, Dina’s name falling from her lips over and over and over again. 

“That’s right,” Dina murmured, swallowing Ellie’s moans whenever she could, rolling her hips through every sweet aftershock, pressing soft kisses against Ellie’s forehead as she panted. “Perfect, so perfect…”

Even as Dina moved slowly inside her and coaxed her along, it took awhile for Ellie to come down - for her twitching hips to settle, and her gasping moans to quiet.

Finally, Ellie sucked down a deep, deep breath, and all the tension seemed to leave her body on her exhale. “Dina, Dina, _fuck_.” Dina chuckled, leaning forward to rest on her elbows, breathing hard around her smile.

“So good, so good…” Dina whispered now, watching Ellie sink into full relaxation, watching the creases and worry-lines fade from her face. She pressed tender, chaste kisses to Ellie’s cheeks, her nose, the corner of her mouth...

And then without warning, Ellie folded Dina in her arms and pulled her down to kiss her full on the mouth. Dina laughed and smiled wide as she pulled away, pulling out slowly and wiggling the toy off of her hips. She curled close around Ellie’s body, resting her head in the crook of Ellie’s neck. 

Ellie laughed low in her throat. “Well _now_ I’m tired…”

“Mmm. That’s the point,” Dina mumbled against her neck, adrift in sweet satisfaction. She stretched wincing slightly at a twinge in her hips. “I may need another massage tomorrow, though.”

Ellie chuckled - “That’s what you get for plowing me like that” - and Dina scoffed, ignoring the blush that bloomed across her cheeks. But Dina softened as Ellie rubbed her low back, breathing deeply and slowly and almost slipping away into unconsciousness.

“I love you,” Ellie mumbled, nuzzling Dina’s chest. Dina smiled against the crown of her head and pressed a kiss there. “Try not to kill Mara tomorrow, hmm?”

Dina sighed heavily, conceding when Ellie grinned crookedly up at her. “I guess,” she murmured, smiling in return as Ellie nuzzled their noses together. “I love you.” 

Ellie kissed her lightly and then flopped backwards, groaning. “We need to get another drop cloth from...from Cat,” she said, speaking around a yawn.

Dina hummed, playing with a lock of Ellie’s hair. “Why’s that?”

“I promised JJ I’d start teaching him oil painting.”

“Ooo, then we really _do_ need another one,” Dina replied, and Ellie nuzzled her neck.

“Two artists in your house,” Ellie murmured. “Aren’t you so lucky?”

“The luckiest person in the universe,” Dina replied, tipping Ellie’s jaw up to kiss her.

“I would know,” Ellie replied sagely, against Dina’s mouth. “I know things about space.” 

Dina just nuzzled her. “I know, baby.” 

“For example,” Ellie added, and Dina saw a fresh brightness in her eyes. “ _You_ are the most stunning thing in the entire multiverse, wife of mine.” She punctuated her statement by running her fingertips along Dina’s ribcage, and Dina sputtered and shrieked and scrambled to pin her down.

“And you,” Dina shot back, as she caught her breath, “are the most infuriating.”

“I’ll take it,” Ellie replied, easy smile blooming on her face. And Dina wrapped her up in her arms and kissed her again, light and sweet and soft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The book that Ellie reads to JJ is The Princess Bride, by William Goldman.
> 
> Find me on tumblr @watery-sun. Cheers!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got depressed, wrote smut. What else is new.
> 
> As always, if folks need anything else tagged, let me know.

The sunset spills over the rippling expanse of Jackson’s autumn fields. The breeze that comes down from the mountains is cold and wet, a harbinger of snow to come. Another long, cold winter will bear down on them soon.

And Dina _aches_.

Two weeks up in the dam have burrowed under her skin, left channels of gray cold in its wake. Dina gets by without material comforts all the time - but it’s something about the utilitarian crispness of the blocky, open-aired settlement that makes her shiver. Everything is _cold_ \- like every inch of the place has become the dam itself, hard concrete meeting freezing mountain runoff and emanating its chill, taking it in until they are one and the same - one solid and one liquid, but both cold, practical, function over form.

Dina misses _warmth_. She’s not long from it now, though.

It’s her son who she sees first, up on the wall. He greets her with a frantic wave that belies his teenage moodiness, fresh and recently-tested on everyone in Dina’s family. It’s early yet for him to be on patrol, but he’s jumped at the chance to be paired up on the wall when hordes aren’t too bad. He likes to be close to the sky, up in the air, so much like his mother. 

Dina raises a hand in return and waves vigorously. She reins Japan in, dismounts, winces as her feet impact the hard ground.

She’s not ten meters into Jackson when JJ tails her. “Shouldn’t you be somewhere?” Dina says, turning on her heel, and she can’t stop the wide smile that grows across her face when he settles into her arms.

“Shift change,” JJ says into her shoulder, and Dina cocks her head.

“Well that’s conveniently timed.”

She hears JJ huff - “Mom’s been pacing like crazy all day” - and Dina hums in understanding. 

“Better go make sure she hasn’t worn a hole in the floor, then.” Dina pulls back, fingers playing over a lock of JJ’s wild hair. “Wash up before dinner, yeah?”

JJ looks down and to the side, smile not quite leaving his face, but Dina can tell that they’ve reached a stumbling point. 

“Ev and Jules invited me to sleep over.” Before Dina can frown, JJ continues - “Mom said I could go. That’s okay, right?”

Dina exhales through her nose, seeing the bright eagerness in his eyes, and making a mental note to poke Ellie about this later. Her response - “Of course, honey” - is greeted by a toothy grin. Dina shoos him on home.

Dina watches him go and inhales, letting the scents of hay and horse and foliage and crisp afternoon - of home - wash over her.

Ellie is in her field of vision before she knows it, striding towards her on an easy, loping gait, covered in dirt from a long day of labor. She draws her sleeve across her face, clears the dirt there so there’s a streak of clean skin that cuts through the grime. Her green eyes glint in the sun and her smile is big and crooked and she’s the most beautiful thing that Dina’s ever seen.

Distance and time don’t exist anymore, not as Dina lets her pack fall - and then Ellie is in her arms and she inhales with her whole being, takes her in, as if by this act alone they could become one being. Their lips meet somewhere in all this closeness, and Dina feels like she’s unfolding into the warmth that is Ellie’s mouth and Ellie’s love, like a flower blooming in the spring, reaching for the heat and life that is the sun.

Eventually, they break apart. “Hi,” Ellie breathes, nuzzling Dina’s nose, swaying from side to side, and Dina _giggles_.

“Get into any trouble while I was away?”

Ellie hums - “No more than usual” - and Dina rolls her eyes and lets her head tip back. “I’ll walk you home?”

“You’d better,” Dina smiles, lacing their fingers together.

The rhythms of home swallow her up. It’s jarring until she remembers that she can relax into them, be pulled along instead of swimming against their current. JJ asks her for help reviewing some problems on his homework, but then retreats back to his room, affection cresting and retreating in that way that only teenagers can manage.

Dina drinks in the quietude of her house. She straightens a haphazard pile of comics on the coffee table, places a few used dishes in the sink. There’s a new framed photo on the dresser in the living room: a profile view of her leaning out over the house’s porch railing, meeting Ellie - who stands up on her toes to reach her - with a kiss.

Dina slips the photo out of its frame and flips it over, to see Ellie’s precise handwriting:

_11 years. I love you._

Dina smiles. So maybe she’s not the only one who’s gone soft in her old age.

For all his solitude-seeking, JJ accepts the kiss she plants on his cheek before he ducks out the front door and bounds down the porch steps, whistling as he goes. Dina watches him get smaller and smaller in the distance, feeling that little core of worry gnaw at her like the twinge of an old injury.

Ellie distracts her with dinner and candles and a flower and, yes, a joint that they share on their front porch until they’re both giggling and swaying. Dina makes vague, facetious noises about how she hasn’t felt this romanced since they were dating; Ellie just rolls her eyes and smiles, takes a final drag, adjusts the blanket that’s settled over both of their laps. 

At this point, Dina’s almost had enough of the autumn-time chill that creeps under her collar, and she tugs Ellie back inside by the belt loops on her jeans. Dina has half a mind to attack the pile of dirty dishes in the sink - she’s almost missed chores, in her absence - but then Ellie’s lips are on her neck, and she’s wrapping Dina up tight and making little content noises.

Dina kisses her, lingers over her mouth, and Ellie sighs - “You want to?” - and for all her tiredness, desire flickers in Dina’s belly. It gives her a second wind that takes her upstairs, dragging Ellie with her - and by the time she’s locked their bedroom door behind them, Dina knows she needs this.

She knows how needy Ellie is as well, by how her eyes darken once they’re in their room. Everything is painted in a soft gold from the lamp on Dina’s bedside table. Dina feels it immediately - _comfort_ \- feels how it washes over her, familiar and old, sweeping her up so that she’s hardly aware of Ellie pulling her further in, and dropping to her knees, and fighting with the buckle on Dina’s belt.

Dina’s comfort cedes to a familiar franticness, an old ease that she’s _missed_ , so so much - how Ellie wrestles her jeans down and nuzzles her thighs and kisses her _hard_ over her damp underwear. Dina feels aware of all her exertion and grime, in the folds of her skin and at the base of her neck, but then her underwear is gone and Ellie makes a strangled, desperate sound in her throat. Her mouth on Dina’s cunt is a hot spear that winds its way around Dina’s spine and makes her shake and _keen_ -

“ _Fuck_ , Ellie,” Dina sighs, tasting those words again, rolling them around on her tongue to feel their sharp tang. “Fuck, you’re so _good_ -” Ellie just hums between her legs, eyes fluttering closed, and Dina knows she’s lost in the taste and feel of her, in the flickering desperation and deep devotion that binds them both together.

Ellie flicks her tongue and sucks and Dina can’t help it, not with heat coiling in her belly. She rocks her hips forward and fists her hands in Ellie’s hair and lets her voice leave her throat in a growl - “Did you miss me on your tongue, baby?”

Ellie’s eyes flash and Dina knows she’s in for it, but that’s for later - and all that’s for here and now is how Ellie laps at her and shakes underneath her, all coiling power and strength come undone at every word of praise that slips from Dina’s mouth. And Dina comes for her because she needs it, they _both_ do - she can see it in how Ellie’s eyebrows draw together and how she claws at Dina’s hips, how Ellie works over her to the point of overstimulation, so that Dina’s high of dominance is now nothing but gasps and flickering, broken moans as she rides it out. 

Everything is fuzzy and swaying and easy and Dina just sighs and sighs as Ellie nudges her back to the bed, removes her shirt and her undershirt and her own clothes. And softness rises to meet Dina, to bring her down slowly so that there’s nothing but the familiar expanse of their blankets, and the warm, heavy weight of Ellie resting between her legs, tracing the stretch marks on her belly and her thighs.

“Missed you so much,” Dina sighs, tucking a lock of hair behind Ellie’s ear and pulling her forward, whimpering sweetly as Ellie nuzzles her way up her body. The exhaustion of their day seems to wash over them both at once, as Dina feels the column of Ellie’s spine relax, feels her nuzzle into the crook of Dina’s neck. 

Dina finds her scars in old, practiced movements. They are little reminders that bump up against her as she runs her hands over Ellie’s lean, sinewy body. She lingers over the whorl of scar tissue on her right side, presses the whole flat of her palm against it. Ellie twitches, but her mouth stays over the scar that ripples down Dina’s shoulder. They hold each other like that, connected at those entry and exit wounds - layering love and warmth over those sites of screaming, quaking pain and near-death -

Sometimes it’s all they can do.

Ellie is painting Dina’s neck in bruises when Dina winds her legs around Ellie’s waist and makes a needy little sound in her throat, acknowledged by Ellie with a gentle scrape of her teeth. “You want more?” she breathes. 

“I want _you_ ,” Dina sighs, breath ghosting along Ellie’s ear. She’s acutely aware now of how she aches inside, how empty she is. “Wanna ride your cock.”

Her words have the desired effect - a sharp inhale and a breathy “ _Fuck_ ” against her neck. Ellie fists her hands in their sheets and rocks forward, warmth becoming pressure. Dina kisses her, open-mouthed and wet and hot. They linger like that for moments more, and then Ellie travels down her body, kissing her lightly and swirling her tongue in soft, lazy patterns.

“Wanna make you feel so good,” Ellie sighs, lips moving over her belly, all soft sweetness spread out over her. Ellie would never believe her if she voiced it, but all Dina sees is light that’s taken form, warm and solid and soft and fucking _perfect_. 

They both gasp as Ellie’s fingers ease inside her, gentle, stretching - “Missed being inside you. My sweet, soft girl, _fuck_ -” 

It’s all soft whimpers and hushed sounds as Ellie moves inside her, slow and easy, murmuring against Dina’s skin about how warm she is, how wet, how good -

“And you’ll come for me, won’t you?” Ellie whispers against her ear, and Dina arches and whimpers. “That’s right, baby, come on -”

“Yes,” Dina breathes, all whispers and sighs and gentle rocking. “Yes, yes, yes -”

It’s only a few more minutes until Dina is quivering and clinging to Ellie, drowning in her encouragement and praise and clamping down on her clever fingers, while whimpers and cries twist from her throat.

“God, yes, baby,” Ellie breathes. “I wanna hear you.” Her mouth is hot on Dina’s throat, lingering and sweet. “I missed the sounds you make.” 

And Dina can tell, by Ellie’s hands on her, that Ellie needs this too, needs to feel Dina around her. It’s obvious now, in how she gasps against Dina’s hair - “Please, baby, please” - and how her fingers never quite stop moving between Dina’s legs, slowing and lengthening and drawing everything out to its very, very end.

Dina comes down slowly on all this gentleness, for once eschewing her usual banter and laughter to curl closer against Ellie, panting against her sternum. Ellie curls over her and kisses her hair, draping her in a soft, sweet darkness. Dina doesn’t need light to kiss the freckles and scars that are under her mouth, memorized, written into her mind with the same second nature with which she now identifies constellations in the night sky. 

Ellie slowly withdraws from her body and then they’re both swept up again, sucking on her wet fingers around sloppy, building kisses. Dina’s gasping and Ellie just slows, drawing little paths from freckle to freckle along her chest. It’s not so much her touch that does Dina in as the _absence_ \- everything that it promises but does not deliver, not yet.

“Ellie,” Dina pants, legs falling open again. Impatience rises in her and Ellie just smiles slyly and stops tracing spiraling circles around her breast. “Ellie, _please_ -”

But Ellie’s the one she has begging next, once Dina’s got her sitting up against their pillows, fake cock situated on her hips. Dina ducks her head and nuzzles at her belly and kisses her way down, down, down…

The taste of silicone in her mouth is strange at first, but it warms under her tongue rapidly, and Ellie’s strangled “ _Fuck_ ” and the way she _trembles_ are more than enough for Dina to continue. 

She can feel Ellie’s hands hovering over her, more from their warmth than any pressure, and Dina sighs and licks a long stripe along the toy, ending in a kiss. “Touch me, baby,” she sighs through the shock that clouds Ellie’s mind, and Ellie’s hands finally settle on her, so _gentle_ \- one cups the back of her head and the other traces the muscles in her back. Her fingers tighten just so when Dina swallows her again, humming, keeping her movements big and obvious.

“ _Fuck_ , you’re gorgeous,” Ellie sighs, hands having migrated fully to Dina’s hair now. She pushes it over one shoulder and then the other in long, sweeping strokes, carding through the thick expanse with ease and familiarity even as Dina’s head bobs. “Wanna come in your mouth,” Ellie whimpers, desperation edging along her voice. 

Dina finally lifts herself up, wipes her mouth, catches her breath. “We can work on that,” she says, feeling her smile grow as Ellie’s eyes widen - but then Dina’s moving to straddle her, rolling her hips and trapping the toy between their bodies.

It’s been a while, and soreness twinges in Dina’s hips as she lifts up, searching for familiar angles. Ellie nuzzles at her neck and along her jaw, pressing soft, slow kisses there, keeping her stable as best she can. There’s a stretch at first and Dina sighs into it, reminds herself that Ellie prepared her, that it’ll pass. It must flicker across her face though, because Ellie murmurs - “You okay, baby?”

Dina reassures her, kisses her lightly, cants her hips and slides down a little further. There’s no rushing here, just soft sighs and murmurs of encouragement. “Like riding a bike,” Dina chuckles, and Ellie snorts against her neck - “You’re _so_ weird.”

Dina’s able to find a rhythm without much thinking, just yielding to how her body wants to move. And then Ellie’s mouth is on hers, breathing her in, following her movements. Dina just rolls her hips and holds her closer, sighing at the feel of Ellie inside her, welcome and loving and always -

Heat and pleasure flicker in Dina’s belly and she unwinds her arms from around Ellie’s shoulders, leans back just so. Ellie tries to follow her with her mouth, but Dina chides her, gently prods her back. “Wanna watch me, baby?”

“Fuck, _yes_ ,” Ellie whines, hands going to Dina’s hips. Her thumbs draw circles on the creases of her skin and Dina sighs, arches her back, lets her hair tumble behind her. She picks up the pace, letting her moans bubble up and overflow out of her mouth - a long stream of pleasure, broken only by her sharp gasps as Ellie rocks her hips up to meet her -

“I know this is your favorite, baby,” Dina manages to gasp out, before sucking her fingers into her mouth and then drawing them down her body, down, down, down to where they’re joined. She swirls her wet fingers around her clit and rocks faster, drawing whines from Ellie -

“ _Fuck_ , look at you,” Ellie gasps, fingers now digging into Dina’s hips, helping her move. “You’re so fucking beautiful -”

All that cold is long gone from Dina’s veins now, replaced by thrumming heat and joy that leaves Dina’s mouth in waves -

“Did you think about me like this when I was gone?” Dina says, voice pitching up, free hand going to Ellie’s shoulder again. “Did you think about me taking your cock?”

(And sure, Dina thinks about sex when she’s gone for long periods of time, similar to how she thinks about the simple, domestic trappings of her life inside Jackson’s walls - but she also thinks about survival and death and connections, and it feels so _good_ to let go of those deeper concerns now, to only think about how her wife feels inside her -)

“ _Yes_ , yes, yes,” Ellie groans, hands practically bruising now, and Dina preens with the knowledge that there will be marks in the morning, and probably the next morning as well, and the next. She misses the evidence of Ellie’s love on her body, of all her sweet strength that gives Dina so much pleasure -

By the time Dina comes, she feels wild, untethered, giving herself over entirely to what her body needs - chanting Ellie’s name as she convulses and spasms and meets the barriers of Ellie’s arms that bracket her, hears her voice that cradles her softly - “I got you, baby, I got you…” For a moment Dina freezes, trembling, shuddering as aftershocks flash through her, making her jolt and whimper -

Ellie folds Dina in close against her body, and Dina finally collapses - heavy with satisfaction and love, whimpering into Ellie’s neck as she comes down, breathing so hard that Ellie’s hand, now rubbing along her back, rises and falls with her. She practically puddles, all tension draining out of her fingertips and her toes in long, slow sighs. Ellie’s skin is damp under her mouth and Dina kisses it on instinct, tasting her exertion there.

“I love you,” Ellie sighs, and Dina can hear the smile in her voice, in how it lilts sweetly as Ellie’s lips ghost over her temple.

“Love you so much,” Dina whimpers, and tiredness flickers over her, grips at the detritus that gathered there on her tiresome journey back to Jackson and threatens to drag her down. “So, so much.”

Dina loses herself in their bed and time, again, is no longer something she can reliably track. There’s just Ellie, pressing kisses along the insides of her arms, and against her ribcage, and down her spine, and along the delicate lines of her ankles - every inch, loved. 

At some point, soreness flickers back into Dina’s body. She breathes deep and makes herself relax, softens down into their blankets. She smiles as Ellie drops a light kiss onto her mouth, feels her breath ghost over her bare skin. 

Her eyes open, and Ellie’s got a smug look painted on her features. Her chin is propped up in her hand, hair loose, eyes easy and relaxed. “Hi.”

Dina chuckles in a weak exhale and scoots over so they’re pressed together. “Don’t look so proud of yourself,” she hums. Ellie doesn’t roll away, just smiles a little softer - so Dina lets her fingers brush along her inner thigh. “This okay?”

Ellie nuzzles the top of her head - “Mhmm” - and rolls onto her back, nudges Dina so they’re closer, so their lips meet.

Dina just meanders along Ellie’s body, walks her fingers down her belly. After all that freneticism and frantic grasping, it’s too easy to slide into this sweet and unhurried place - whispering to each other between kisses, words of love and happiness and contentment. Ellie traces the shell of her ear and strokes her back, always touching some part of her, even as her hips twitch and whimpers rise in her throat.

Dina finishes her with her mouth, holding Ellie’s gaze from between her legs as her fluttering, gasping orgasm washes through her body - as she clings to Dina so hard that her knuckles whiten and she trembles and inhales like it’s her first real breath -

“Dina, Dina, Dina, _fuck_ …” 

Dina lingers between Ellie’s legs, pressing soft kisses there, feeling her pulse thrum around her - warm and alive and present. She ends up drawing circles on Ellie’s stomach, humming aimlessly. Ellie’s fingers wander through her hair, lulling and soft. When she looks up, Dina sees that Ellie’s eyes have closed, though her brow knits as Dina eases her legs off of her shoulders.

“Mmm.”

Dina snuggles into Ellie’s side. “What?”

Ellie chuckles into her hands, cards her fingers through her loose hair. “My stamina is shit tonight.”

“You gonna pass out on me?”

“Like you don’t love it,” Ellie murmurs, stretching out so that she’s practically draped over Dina. Her skin is painted in soft golds in the low light of their bedroom, and Dina arches and bites back a laugh as she starts tracing patterns along her ribcage.

Eventually, Ellie’s movements dwindle, petering out as the rhythm of her breathing lengthens. Dina shifts in her arms, pressing soft kisses to her forehead until her eyelids flutter. “You okay to sleep?”

Ellie exhales, and Dina watches her eyebrows draw together again, her eyes glance down and to the side - watches her think. 

“One thing.” Ellie’s eyes rise to meet hers. “Come here.” Dina _oofs_ as Ellie wraps her closer, pulling her hips snug back into the curve of her body. Ellie breathes against her neck - “Now I’m good” - and Dina can’t help but smile, tangling their fingers together over her belly.

“You’re such a sap.”

Ellie hums against her skin. “Your words, love.”

Dina leans back into her solid warmth, feels the consistent expanding and shrinking of her chest. Easy, eternal. “You should come with me to the dam next time.”

Ellie sighs in a way that niggles at Dina’s heart. Her fingers loosen, and Dina feels the bracelet catch before she can pull away. Dina rolls over. “What?”

Ellie’s face is half-hidden in her pillow. Dina sees disbelief inscribed in the single, scarred eyebrow that’s visible. “Just thought you wanted space.” Her voice is small, and Dina frowns in return.

“I did,” she murmurs, injecting what she hopes is finality into her voice. “And I got it.” She scoots closer, buries her head in the dark curve of Ellie’s neck. “I want you there with me next time.” Dina pours her devotion into those words until they’re overflowing, sticky between them like their skin. “Okay?”

She feels Ellie tense, and then soften, relaxing, as a word leaves her body on her breath - “Okay.” 

“Okay,” Dina repeats, nuzzling her. Kisses her shoulder, for good measure. Wraps her up. Never lets her go.


End file.
